Just Business
by alllien
Summary: The case begins with a body being pulled out of the Hudson, but blows up to become bigger than our two favourite detectives could have ever imagined. Eventual EO planned, though I want this story to be a good crime-busting adventure first and foremost.
1. Chapter 1

"So why'd they call us in?"

Elliot walks up behind Olivia, holding two coffees in his hands. The sun has risen above the horizon, the morning light softening the red-and-blue glare colouring the scene.

"Nice of you to show up."

The brown haired detective accepts the coffee, pointedly ignoring her partner's question.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was meant to drop the kids off at school today. I wasn't even supposed to be in the office until 10 o'clock, but Cragen called us in."

Olivia smiles her forgiveness - not that she had really been upset - and begins to fill Elliot in on the situation.

"Victim is a white female, mid to late twenties. Our traffic cop Jerry here," she nods to a nauseous looking rookie standing awkwardly amongst the CSU techs, "found her floating in the Hudson a few hours ago and called us in. Vic was completely naked and the prelim seems to indicate severe trauma. We will have to wait for Warner's report to confirm whether that trauma includes sexual assault, but my gut says this girl got the works"

Elliot grimaced. No matter how often they handled this sort of case, it never got easier to see the scene of a murder. A glance at his partner's face confirmed to him that she was thinking the same. He noticed dark circles under her eyes, telling him she'd had a late night at the precinct again yesterday, but he knew better than to mention that. She still looked impressively put-together regardless, but he knew better than to mention that either. He switched into work gear and tried to catch up with what was going on.

"Our vic have a name?"

"Yeah. Jane Doe."

"No ID on the body then?"

"El, which part of 'completely naked in the Hudson'..."

"Hey, you could have found a bag or something as well… it's morning, give me a break!"

A brief smile crossed Olivia's face at his remark, but was quickly wiped away as she continued stepping him through the scene.

"Jane Doe is likely to remain a Jane Doe for a while as well. Guy took care to make sure we couldn't identify her."

"No fingerprints?"

"Fingerprints burned off, face mutilated beyond recognition, and teeth smashed so we wouldn't even have an accurate comparison for dental records."

Elliot frowned. "Let's hope Warner can find us _something_ to work from. Anything else on the scene that could help us?"

Olivia shook her head. "If there had been anything, the river's washed it away."

The ride back to the precinct was mostly silent.

* * *

They gave an overview of the case to Cragen when they arrived, and busied themselves with paperwork while awaiting the ME report. Until then, they didn't have a lead to chase, so they decided they may as well make a dent in their backlog to free up the time they'd soon be needing.

Mid-way through the morning, Elliot felt his phone buzz with an SMS. Kathy was asking whether he would be able to make their dinner plans tonight. He knew that she knew the answer to that the moment he bailed on driving the kids this morning - after this many years of being with him, she could sense when he was about to be pulled deep into a case. Knowing that there was no way he would be getting out of the office on time, he texted back his apologies. This situation had played out so many times before that the text was easy to send, which made him feel a twinge of guilt. Elliot knew that he should really feel worse about not coming home to his wife, but he was comforted knowing he would be in good company here at the precinct.

Olivia was robotically filling in forms. Their last case - Alicia Harding - was still weighing on her mind; it always took some time when one of their own was lost. Her and Sonya had had their differences, but the ADA had been a good person, and deserved better than the end she got. The loss still hadn't quite sunk in. She couldn't help but think back to Alex's "death" a few years back; she had felt the oddest sense of deja vu when they found Sonya bleeding out in that bathroom, as she knew that it wasn't the first time she had tried to stop one of their ADA's from bleeding out in her arms. _Tried and failed_ , an insidious little voice in her head told her.

"...Liv!"

Olivia looked up at Stabler with a start. It clearly wasn't the first time he had said her name, and she kicked herself internally for letting herself get lost in her head.

"Yeah?"

"You ok?" Elliot asked with a frown. He had known her long enough to know when something was off.

"Yeah, I'm fine, El."

Elliot gave her a pointed look. She conceded, "I still keep thinking back to Sonya, you know?"

It had barely been two weeks since that fateful evening, and Elliot knew how much that case had affected his partner. Having a victim bleed out in your arms was tough, and having that victim be someone you know was a hundred times worse. He had rarely seen Olivia as _raw_ as she had been at the precinct that evening, and as much as he knew that it would not have made a difference, he hadn't quite forgiven himself for not being by her side throughout that case. It would take time - for the both of them - to really move past this, so he offered her a nod of sympathy.

"I know Liv, I miss her too."

"You were saying something?"

"Oh yeah - Warner just called. ME report's back, and she said we'd want to hear this."

* * *

The pair walked into the cool, sterile air of the morgue.

"Warner, I really don't get how you like staying down here in the cold and the gloom all day," Elliot greeted their medical examiner.

"Not all of us get to live the glamorous life of high speed chases and playing the hero, Detective," she smiled back.

"So what have you got for us?" the brown-haired detective chimed in, steering the conversation straight to the point.

"I'm glad at least one of you is down here to do your job, Olivia. Contusions to the wrist indicate that the victim was bound prior to being killed, the impressions on her skin showing that your perp used a wide strap, like you might find at a warehouse for packing down crates. A subdural hemorrhage indicates a heavy blow to the back of the head with a blunt object. Based on the amount of blood, I would say that this blow occurred maybe an hour before death - I would guess that this is how the victim was subdued. Vic also had a number of older bruises across her body, as well as cigarette dotting her stomach and chest."

"She was abused?"

Melinda nodded. "A classic battered woman. Though a beating gone bad is usually a crime of passion, while your killer was far more calculating. Her fingerprints were seared off, and her face has severe lacerations and contusions to hide her identity. Thankfully for our Jane Doe, lividity indicates this was all done post-mortem. A patch of skin around 3x5 inches wide around her upper spine is also missing. While you would not have seen this at the scene due to the way the face was mutilated,the cause of death was a single gunshot wound through the forehead."

The detectives glanced at each other. "She was executed," Olivia breathed. Melinda grimly nodded in response.

"Why remove that patch of skin? Identifying tattoo?" Stabler thought out loud.

"But why remove that one, and not any others?" Olivia gestured to the sprawling vines that remained inked across the victim's ribs.

Melinda took steer of the conversation again: "There is more you may want to hear. Your killer didn't steal that much time from this girl. Her days were already numbered."

Stabler frowned. "What do you mean - she's what 25? 27?"

"Thereabouts. But I found metastatic tumours in her lungs - the spreading of a malignant melanoma. I found scars from a punch biopsy on a mole on her upper arm, from at most earlier this week. On a hunch, I also ran some additional tests on her blood, and found remnants of contrast in her system. She would have had to get a scan to find the additional tumours, and based on the fact that those chemicals were still in her system when she died, I would guess that she got murdered on the same day that she got diagnosed with terminal cancer."

Elliot let out a low whistle. "Talk about a bad day…"

 **A/N: I haven't written fanfiction for a good 5 years, so please do feel free to give constructive criticism. Chapter 2 will be coming soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

Olivia and Elliot walked back into the squad room.

"Warner give you anything to work from?" Fin greeted them.

"Barely, though she certainly painted us a pretty picture..." began Elliot, "Based on the time of death, the vic had been in the water for around 48 hours, so we can't even identify a crime scene to canvas. Any hits on missing persons?"

"Nothing yet. We'll keep searching." Fin stated, looking back at his computer.

Cragen looked concerned, "We don't have much to work off of here. If we get nothing from missing persons within the next few hours, we will have to make a statement to the press requesting information. Any theories about who this girl was?"

"I'm thinking gangs," Olivia offered.

"Young white female, seems like a pretty big jump to make straight off the bat, Liv," cautioned Fin, "Though I respect your open-mindedness."

"She had a chunk of missing skin on her back - it had to be a tattooed symbol of whoever she was with, otherwise they wouldn't have bothered removing it. The abuse she suffered - beatings and cigarette burns - would be consistent with being the girlfriend of some low-life."

"Maybe she was a working girl, pissed off her pimp?" Elliot thought out loud.

"Nah man, why would a pimp burn one of his girls? That's more permanent than a beating, damages the merchandise…" countered Fin, though he was clearly disgusted with the idea of this girl being thought of as a product.

"Merchandise?! You should show more respect for the deceased!" Munch commented in mock-outrage.

"That's not what I meant Munch, I'm just saying that the gir-"

"Anyway, I think it was the government," Munch continued, not giving his partner the chance to defend himself.

"Of course you do," Elliot laughed.

"No, really. Most gangs wouldn't bother to cut off a tattooed sign. If she was a test subject of some sort, it would make sense for them to disassociate themselves from her. Plus, the way she was killed - a clean execution. She outlived her usefulness, so bam! Shot and dumped in the river to make it look like your average murder. Nobody's reported her missing for the two days she's been dead, which would make sense if she was the operative of some government org."

Elliot rolled his eyes "Munch. You're crazy."

While Olivia, generally speaking, agreed with her partner's notion, something about Munch's conspiracy had made her think.

"Outlived her usefulness… El, you know what Warner said about the cancer?"

The other members of the team frowned.

"Our vic was sick?" Fin asked.

"Terminal. Diagnosed the same day she was killed, apparently," Elliot explained.

"Exactly," continued Olivia, "What if that wasn't a coincidence? What if whoever she was with - which I don't think is the United States government, by the way Munch - what if that party could no longer use her if she was sick, and couldn't release her in fear of being exposed?"

"Put down like an injured horse…" Elliot shook his head.

"Despicable," Cragen stood up. "It sounds like we have a lot of leads for motive - if we can actually identify our victim. Fin, keep searching missing persons. Liv, draft up a statement to give to the press. You know that we can't give them the vic's photo - not that it would do much good in this case - but I have the feeling we might need to enlist the help of the public on this one."

"Maybe not." Fin looked up from his computer. "I just got a hit on missing persons. Jennifer Hodges, blonde female, 25 years old, been missing for 2 days. Reported by her mother, Olga Hodges. Mother lives in an apartment in Chelsea."

"Good work, Fin. Olivia, Elliot, go check it out."

"On our way, Cap. El, I'm driving."

"Fine by me," acknowledged Stabler, getting up and following his partner out.

* * *

It wasn't a long drive to Chelsea, but they weren't in a hurry. There was no pleasant end to the conversation they were about to have with Mrs. Hodges. If it was her daughter, this was about to become the worst day of this woman's life. If it wasn't, they would have to leave her back in the hell of knowing her child was missing.

Elliot breathed a sigh of relief when Olivia suggested they stop for lunch first. They stopped at a burger joint they had been to a few times which was owned by an over-enthusiastic but pleasant Hispanic gentleman.

They were greeted by him as they came in. "Ah, Olivia! Elliot! What can I do for New York City's finest? The usual for you?"

"Sounds great, Carlos." Olivia responded warmly.

 _Ah right, Carlos._ Elliot made a mental note. He could never remember the names of the staff at the restaurants they frequented, but he loved how Olivia seemed to be on a first name basis with practically everyone within a mile's radius of the 16. She just had this genuine kindness in her which allowed her to interact with strangers as if they were old friends.

"Pablo, double-patty bacon burger with extra cheese for the gentleman and a Casa classic for the lady, Americanos for both to accompany," Carlos barked the order to the teenage waiter. "I read about your old lawyer in the news, detectives, my condolences. Are you looking for the man who killed her?"

Elliot cringed a bit inside. He hated the press sometimes - occasionally the victim would make the front page, but it would be a small print segment on the 5th page when they actually caught the bastard who did it. "You should read the news more carefully, Carlos," he commented sternly.

Olivia gave Elliot a Look. "It is sweet of you to ask, Carlos, but we caught that monster last week. Right now we've just started a new case, we're trying to get justice for a young woman." She wasn't really in the mood to discuss the details of this latest case with him, so she swiftly changed the subject. "I haven't seen Pablo here before, is he new?"

"He is my sister's son. Hard-working, he will go very far." Carlos replied with pride in his voice. He did pick up on Olivia's hint, and so left the two detectives to wait for their food.

Olivia immediately jumped into discussing the case, and Elliot had to their entire team cared very much about their jobs, her dedication to victims was unrivaled by anyone in their squad, or, as he personally believed, any other squad out there. He admired her empathy - though he himself was by no means cold-hearted, he couldn't imagine feeling this strongly for every vic they met and still being able to do the job they did.

Their burgers arrived, and seemed even more amazing than the last time they had been here. _We need to come here more often_ , noted Elliot. Over lunch, they speculated about the possibility of identifying their victim during this visit. While they were hopeful as the description seemed spot-on, they knew that finding her on the first match seemed too good to be true. The lunch was over far too quickly - though they couldn't linger, there was work to be done - and they got back in the squad car to continue to their destination.

* * *

They stopped outside a rather nice looking flat in Chelsea.

Olivia dreaded going inside. They didn't even have a photo of the victim to show to this mother - they daren't show the mutilated face - so they would have to be careful in their approach. She was glad to have Elliot by her side for this, as he was always good at handling grieving parents. Though Fin had a kid as well, Elliot's sensitivity when it came to his family allowed him to sympathise in a way that made the relatives feel at ease. _Unless he suspects them of any foul play,_ she grinned to herself, _then God help those who have drawn the wrath of Stabler._

They walked up the stairs to the apartment, and knocked on the door. They heard movement inside, and the door was shortly opened by a short, worried-looking woman who appeared to be in her fifties.

"Can I help you?" The woman spoke with an accent. _Russian?_ Olivia thought.

"Hi there, we're detectives," Olivia held up her badge and her partner followed suit. "Are you Mrs. Olga Hodges?"

"Yes, that's me. Please, come in detectives. This is about my daughter? You have found her?"

"We're not sure about that yet, Mrs. Hodges," Elliot responded, "We'd just like to ask you a few questions."

"Of course. Please come sit," Mrs. Hodges led them along the hallway into a spacious and well-lit living room. "Tea or coffee?"

"We're ok, thank you" Olivia assured her.

They sat down on the vintage-looking sofas, the end tables on either side littered with various tchotchkes. Mrs. Hodges was looking increasingly tense.

"Mrs. Hodges, when is the last time you saw your daughter?" Elliot began. _Start with some basic queries, don't want to scare her too soon,_ he thought.

"Three days ago, she was supposed to meet me for dinner but did not come. Her friends have not heard from her, and she does not pick up her phone. But why do you ask again, I already gave this information to the other policemen, what news do you have for me?"

Olivia shared a darkly amused look with her partner. She knew that he was trying to ease this lady in to the conversation, but Mrs. Hodges was having none of his usual tricks.

"We have found someone who matches the height and and build of your daughter," Olivia said cautiously.

"Well can she not tell you who she is?" Mrs. Hodges asked, stubbornly ignoring the implication of Olivia's statement.

Olivia cringed inside. She despised this part of her job. "Mrs. Hodges, we found the body in the Hudson river this morning."

The older woman's face remained frozen, but her shoulders began to tremble as she struggled to deny what was being told to her. "And you think...that is my Jennifer? Can I see a picture of her face?"

"The river did too much damage for us to be sure." Elliot advised, the white lie sparing this woman the pain of the details for now. "We would like to take a DNA sample from yourself to test."

"Of course, take.. Take anything you need." the woman's voice cracked, but she was fighting hard to maintain her demeanour.

"Mrs. Hodges, do you know if your daughter was involved in any gang activity?" Olivia asked. She knew she had to make this query, but she had the feeling that the question would not go over well. It didn't.

"How dare you!" The pained look in the older woman's grey-blue eyes quickly morphed into cold fury. "My daughter was a good person. She was a dentist, she did a lot of.. How do you say? Pro-pono? pro-bono work for kids from poor neighbourhoods. Just because I come from Eastern Europe, you assume mob. Typical racism from you people."

"I'm sorry Mrs. Hodges, I didn't mean…" words failed Olivia, and she knew there wasn't really anything she could say.

"Mrs. Hodges, do you know if your daughter had any tattoos? On the body we found several that we could use to confirm the ID." Elliot decided to steer the conversation away from the mob, as it was clear that this line of questioning would only continue to offend.

He was surprised at the effect of his words. Mrs. Hodges dropped her head into her hands, and a heaving sob escaped her. When she looked back up at them, the tension that had been hiding behind her careful composure was released, and behind the film of tears, her blue eyes shone relief.

"You have the wrong girl detectives. That could not have been my Jennifer, my Jennifer did not have any tattoos. My girl is not dead…"

"Mrs. Hodges, with the utmost respect, is it not possible that your daughter had a tattoo you did not know about?" Olivia ventured, but the older lady just shook her head.

"My girl is not dead detective, she could not have had tattoo. When she was teenager, my Jennifer was a free spirit. I promised her that if she got into university, she could get the butterfly tattoo which she had been begging for for years. When she got offers from 3 of her top choices, I went with her to the tattoo parlour - reputable, I wanted her to have quality, at least - and they did a test on her skin with the ink. Her skin flared up red within seconds, and we had to take her to the doctors for the allergic reaction. The doctor told us that if she had gotten a whole tattoo done, he was not sure if there would have been enough epinephrine in the world to pull her through. So detective, I am so sorry to hear about the girl you have found, but that could not have been my daughter."

 _Fair enough,_ thought the detectives. They politely excused themselves and left the building.

* * *

"Well, that was a bust," complained Elliot, getting into the squad car.

"Guess Cragen will have to put out that press release after all…"

Olivia was driving again, as they headed back to the precinct.

"Can we stop for coffee on the way back?"

"Again? We just had coffee with our lunch at Casa, El. Not get much sleep last night?" Olivia glanced over at her partner, half-concerned and half-amused.

"No, it's not that. I'm just starting to remember why we don't eat at Casa more often," Elliot shifted uncomfortably. "It feels like my stomach has just stopped digesting." he explained.

Olivia laughed, "Maybe if you didn't insist on ordering pure cholesterol everytime we went there. Double-patty, bacon, and extra cheese? The food's actually pretty good otherwise."

"Blaming the victim, Olivia?" Elliot put on his best 'hurt' expression. "Are you saying I asked for this?"

"You're damn right I am El, I wouldn't have been surprised if you dropped dead from a heart attack after that meal. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if- "

Her phone ringing cut off her train of thought.

"El, I'm driving, would you mind answering that for me? That's Cragen's ringtone - phone's in my jacket pocket."

The blonde detective reached into her pocket to take the ringing phone, when a bump in the road made his hand land open on her upper thigh. He quickly grabbed the phone, and then retracted his hand as if he had touched a hot stove

"Easy there, cowboy!" Olivia quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, Liv" he said, blushing slightly. He hadn't really touched her anywhere intimate, but he still felt the heat of her leg imprinted on his palm. As much as he tried to ignore this fact in his day to day life, his partner was damn attractive, and that touch launched his mind into a place he tried very hard to avoid. _Steady, Stabler_ , he reminded himself. _Wife and kids, wife and kids, wife and kids_ , he repeated to himself, trying to get his head out of the gutter.

"Stabler, the phone." Olivia reminded him. He awkwardly realised that he was staring off into space, so he cursed his primate brain internally, and picked up the phone.

Olivia tuned out his conversation with Cragen, and was caught in her own private thought spiral. She didn't tend to allow feelings about her partner to infiltrate her mind, since she knew that there was no good way for that to end, but she couldn't deny that his touch had made her feel some type of way. It's not like they didn't share physical contact at all - a hug or a pat on the shoulder after a tough case, a mock-fight as they re-enacted a crime scene, that was standard. Those platonic touches were always welcome, just as a part of their friendship, but his hand on her thigh had just left her unable to escape the fact that she would enjoy it it they were something so much more. _In another life,_ she sighed.

"Liv, turn around, we're heading to the Upper East Side."

"Cragen find a new lead?"

"Another missing persons report. The mother called in this one as well, just rang us an hour ago. Girl's supposedly been unreachable for 3 days, and was supposed to join her mother at lunch today before preparing for their charity gala, but she never showed. The girl is 5'6, blonde, and 24 years old - seems to match our vic to a T"

"From top of the social ladder to bottom of the Hudson, that would be quite a way to fall."

"Not that it's something we haven't seen before…"

* * *

"Thank you for seeing us so soon, Mrs. Hall."

They were lead through the penthouse apartment into the sitting room, where they had a view of half the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"I always warned her about going out with those men! I just know it must be my Louise you've found - I read that a lady was pulled out of the river this morning in the paper - and when she didn't show up for lunch..."

The socialite was crying, in that delicate, Hollywood kind of way. Her expertly-curled dyed black hair bounced on her shoulders, and she dabbed at her eyes with a silk handkerchief. Though she sounded thoroughly distraught, she sat with perfect posture in her expensive-looking beige suit, red bottoms visible on her nude patent heels.

 _Who wears Louboutins in their own house,_ Olivia thought.

"What men, Mrs. Hall?" she queried.

"Oh, those boys from the university. She has just gone back to school, you know, she is studying fashion design, as her endeavours in fine art have led her to her true calling. I just knew something would happen because of those boys she goes out with, most of them are from rather _unsavoury backgrounds_." the older woman explained, dropping her voice towards the end of the sentence, her implication clear.

The two detectives shared a look, trying to approach this delicately.

"What exactly do you mean, Mrs. Hall? Did they ever get Louise into trouble?" Olivia pushed.

"Well, not exactly, but I know what type of people they are! They don't understand her genius! They were just trying to get close to her because of her _connections._ " the woman leaned forward. Olivia picked up the fruity scent of Pinot Grigio on her breath.

"One of them must have taken her, and she must have said the wrong thing - oh, she never did understand the power of her words - and they must have, they must have..." the dark haired lady broke down in hysterics in front of them.

This was not going to be an easy interview to do.

"There, there, Mrs. Hall." Elliot sat down next to the woman and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned to cling to him and began sobbing into his shirt. Elliot awkwardly patted her on the back, and stared at Olivia, hoping to telepathically implore her to help him. She smirked in response.

"Let me go get you a glass of water." Olivia stood up to head towards the kitchen. The socialite looked up at her briefly, and said in a rather clear voice "Make it a glass of Chardonnay, dear, there should be some in the decanter on the counter. Do feel free to help yourself." As if realising that she had broken character, she suddenly resumed her crying and buried her face back in the male detectives shirt.

Olivia raised her eyebrows at Elliot as she left to go to the kitchen, and he only glared in response. _How dare you leave me here with her_ , his eyes spoke.

Just as Olivia returned with the wine for Mrs. Hall, they heard keys turn in the door. The older lady wiped her eyes and composed herself, as a young woman walked into the room.

"Louise! I thought you were dead!" Mrs. Hall sprang up and wrapped her daughter in a tight embrace. The young woman stared apologetically at the two strangers in her living room, both of whose eyebrows seemed to be attempting to crawl into their hairlines.

"Mother, I am sorry I missed our luncheon, there is no need for such dramatics" the girl tried to calm the hysterical woman in front of her.

"Oh Louise, you haven't answered your phone in days, and with the company you keep, I couldn't help but think…"

At the mention of 'the company', the girl's face hardened. It was clear that this wasn't the first time they had had this argument.

"Mother, I have told you that I am an artist, I cannot always answer if I have been taken by a muse. Could you kindly introduce me to your friends?"

Elliot helpfully flashed his badge. Louise looked horrified.

"You called the cops?"

"We'll show ourselves out, you folks take care." Olivia made her way towards the door, Elliot close behind her, and they left mother and daughter to work out their differences.

"Wow." she remarked, as soon as they had made it outside.

"I know…" Elliot agreed. "I had half a mind to arrest her for making a false report!"

"Being crazy isn't a crime, El," Olivia gently reminded him.

"Wish it was, then we could finally get Munch off the streets."

Olivia laughed out loud at his remark, and they drove back to the station.

* * *

" _...So if you know a colleague, friend, or family member who matches this description, who has not been seen since Saturday, please call the tip line at the bottom of your screen. You could help stop a dangerous criminal, so please, take action."_

Olivia and Elliot arrived to the precinct to find Munch outside giving a statement to a band of reporters.

"Didn't take Cragen long to get that statement sorted - we called him what, 15 minutes ago?" the brown haired detective remarked.

"Don't think he had much faith in that second report. I thought he had wanted you to be the one talking to the press?"

"Like you said, I don't think he had much faith in that second report. Guess Munch wrote it up while we went on our wild goose chase…"

"Let's hope he'll have more luck than we did."

 **A/N: Please do review if you enjoy, or let me know even if you don't - I shamelessly feed off of your attention.**


	3. Chapter 3

"So let me get this straight, your 'missing' vic walked in just as you were interviewing her mother? That's priceless!" Munch laughed as Elliot recounted their day to the rest of the squad.

"Hey don't laugh so hard at me, it's _your_ partner that gave us that lead."

"That was a solid lead, Elliot, the missing girl matched our vic exactly." Fin gave Elliot an irritated stare. He had been going through missing persons reports all morning, and was none too pleased that his search hadn't panned out.

"Well I'm hopeful that the press release will get us somewhere." Cragen commented, interrupting the tense exchange. Practically a whole day had passed with no solid trail to follow, and his squad was getting antsy. "Anything new on the tip-line, Liv?"

"Nothing that fits the bill yet, Cap. Just the standard conspiracy nuts and neighborhood busybodies calling in."

Munch saw the opportunity to stay silent, and as usual, ignored it entirely: "Hey, as a proud conspiracy nut I object to your tone."

Olivia rolled her eyes at him. Her mood had significantly soured throughout the afternoon, since she was tied to the desk answering the phone. Fin had convinced her that it was only fair he and Munch would get to chase up the next lead, since he'd been stuck looking through reports all morning. It made sense, as Elliot was due in court this afternoon anyway, but she resented desk duty nonetheless.

"Special Victims Unit… uh-huh… ok… and you haven't seen her since… last Thursday, ok…. and you think that… ok, we'll send someone over right away. Would you mind if I took your name? we would like to speak to you in person… uh-huh, well thank you very much Hanna, we'll be in touch soon."

"Think we got something?" Fin didn't even pretend not to have been eavesdropping.

"Hanna Steadman, flight attendant. One of her colleagues hasn't been to work since last Thursday; matches the description of our vic. She says that this colleague has been acting increasingly strange over the past few months, and her boss told her this morning that the colleague had unexpectedly quit. You and Munch should go talk to her, this seems promising."

"Munch, move your skinny ass, we're going." Fin was already putting on his coat.

"Which airport?" Munch asked, getting up to join his partner.

"Kennedy, terminal 4. Steadman flies for Emirates, and so did her missing colleague. You might want to hurry, she is due to fly out to Dubai in 4 hours."

Munch and Fin promptly left the squadroom, and Cragen headed back to his office, satisfied that progress was being made.

Elliot stood up around 10 minutes later.

"Well, that creep Harrington isn't gonna convict himself. I'm due in court, you gonna be alright manning the fort on your own for a bit?" Elliot knew she would be, of course, but he knew how much _he_ would have hated to be stuck on the tip-line, and imagined she was feeling the same.

"See you soon, El. Put that bastard away for life for what he did to those girls."

"I will, Liv." Elliot gave a small smile to his partner and headed off to the crib to change into a suit.

* * *

Munch and Fin were greeted at an Emirates check-in point by a nervous-looking, slightly chubby brunette.

"Hanna Steadman?" Munch asked. The girl nodded her confirmation.

"Detective John Munch, this is my partner Detective Tutuola."

A quick handshake, and the girl led them into a small office, away from the crowds. She sat in front of them, and frowned tentatively, not quite sure where to begin.

"So your co-worker, the one you called our tip line about - she have a name?" Fin prompted.

"Annie. Annie Winters."

"She been working here long?"

Hanna shook her head. "Six months, I think. I'm not sure where she worked before, we didn't really talk much. She was always pretty quiet, but seemed super sweet whenever we did chat. To be honest, I think she interacted with the customers better than she did with her co-workers. Around us, she always seemed very guarded. Withdrawn even. And I know some people are shy when they start, but this was different. The longer she was here, she seemed to pull back more, not less."

"Do you know why that might have been?" Munch queried.

Hanna hesitated. "I… I've had my suspicions for a while. I think a boyfriend, or someone else in her life, wasn't treating her right. She never mentioned seeing anyone, but I noticed unexplained bruises a few too many times."

She noticed Fin and Munch's disapproving looks.

"I tried to say something, ok? It's just, she always had an explanation, and I didn't really know her well enough to push it. Anyway, that's why I was a bit worried when she didn't show up for work on Friday. And for our boss to now say she's left? It just doesn't sound right. And I didn't notice her packing up or anything on Thursday."

Munch's eyes lit up. "So her personal belongings would still be here? Do you know where we might find any of those?"

"I actually know the code to her locker! She let me keep my spare uniform in there once, when my locker's lock jammed." Hanna seemed eager to help, so the detectives let her lead the way.

The locker had indeed not been cleaned out. A backpack, containing a spare set of clothes and a toiletries bag, a change of shoes, a book, a few family photographs, a rubik's cube. Fin riflled through the toiletries bag. Hanna gave him an odd look.

"DNA," he explained, carefully placing a hairbrush into a plastic evidence bag.

"Thank you very much for your time Hanna, you've been very helpful," Munch commented, "Is there anyone who Annie was close with here, whom we could speak to?"

"Or do you know if your boss - the one who told you that Annie had quit - is still in?"

Hanna nodded to both detectives. "My boss is still in his office, I can take you there." She turned to Munch to address his query, "As I said, Annie mostly kept to herself. But she was friendly with this other flight attendant from Emirates - Jessica Lewis. Jess was just heading home actually, you might still catch her if you run"

"I take the boss, you take the girl?" Fin asked. Munch nodded in response and they split up.

Munch caught the slim redhead out in the parking lot.

"Jessica Lewis?"

"Who's asking?"

"NYPD." Munch showed his badge. The girl's green eyes widened in alarm.

"What's this about?"

"You sure seem nervous. I'm just looking to find out a bit of information about one of your co-workers, Annie Winters." Munch eyed the girl suspiciously. He'd met perps who didn't seem this anxious about talking to him.

"Oh. Annie. Umm, I didn't really know her that well. I heard she left to go work somewhere else or something, you should really go look there." Jessica made a move to turn away, but Munch grabbed her upper arm to stop her. His touch was gentle - more a gesture than any sort of actual physical restraint - but the girl pulled back as if she had been struck and hissed in pain.

"I barely touched you!" Munch frowned. He wasn't about to have an excessive force violation pinned on him by some girl he was becoming increasingly convinced was involved in this crime.

"Sorry, it wasn't you," Jessica said, dropping both her eyes and her voice. "Had a bruise there already, incident with the food cart during some turbulence in-flight."

Munch's annoyance with the girl quickly morphed into concern. Perp? Maybe not. Victim #2 was seeming more likely…

"Talk to me, I can help you," he implored.

"If you know anything about what is going on, you know why I can't talk to you. Please leave me alone, before someone sees me talking to you. Try talking to Vivienne if you must, though I doubt she will tell you anything either." She suddenly looked in his eyes with panic. "But don't tell her I told you about her! Please, if that gets out…"

Munch quietly thanked her, and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring nod. She turned on her heel and continued towards her car. As she was walking away, any doubt Munch had about the girl's involvement was washed away - above the line of her tank top, splashed across her upper back, was the tattoo of a strange symbol.

Munch turned away and tried to walk back to the terminal as inconspicuously as he could.

He met Fin as he was returning with Hanna.

"Find anything out from the boss?"

"Nah, not really. Got her written resignation this morning and announced it to the team, didn't think to check in on her or nothing. Get anything from the girl?"

Munch shook his head, but gave his partner his best 'we'll talk about it later' look. "She didn't know our vic too well, but may have pointed us in the right direction. Ms. Steadman, do you know anybody who works with you named Vivienne?"

The brunette shook her head, then paused. "She could have meant Vivi from the loading bay? I think I've seen her talking to Annie a few times. I haven't seen Viv for a few days though, I think she's on holiday until like, Wednesday?" She hesitated for a moment. "Is there anything else I could do for you gentlemen at the moment? It's just, I have a flight pretty soon and I had a few things I wanted to get done before then."

Fin nodded understandingly. "Thank you very much for your time Hanna, you've been very helpful."

"Please give us a call if you think of anything else Ms. Steadman," Munch said, handing her his card.

The girl scuttered off, and the detectives headed back to the car.

"So what d'ya find?" Fin hadn't missed his partner's hint.

"Jessica Lewis is involved in whatever our vic was - she's got a tattoo on her upper back."

"So? Lots of girls got tattoos there."

"You didn't see how she was acting. There's something off here. You got the DNA to test?" His partner nodded an affirmative. Munch continued, "I'll bet you anything it's gonna be a match."

* * *

Elliot hated lawyers. And court. And wearing a suit. Defence had been grilling him for the better part of an hour about why he was convinced that the defendant was responsible for the rape-homicides of three working girls.

"My client admits to soliciting sex in the neighbourhood which these girls worked. He admits to having relations with them, but that does not mean he was involved in the fate that so tragically _later_ befell them. What evidence do you have, detective, which leads you to believe that my client was responsible for the deaths of these girls?"

Elliot was struggling to maintain a professional facade. "Fresh sperm from your client was found in all three of the victims, counselor. So unless spontaneous asphyxiation is a newly discovered STD, I would say that your client also strangled the girls that he solicited."

"Your honour!"

"There is no need for sarcasm in my courtroom, Detective. However, I see no reason for the jury to disregard this statement. Counselor, please move on."

Elliot sighed. The public defender this scumbag was saddled with was an idiot. This was going to be a long afternoon.

Another hour and a half, and Elliot was headed back to the precinct. As he was walking down the courtroom steps, his phone rang. Kathy. He would have been meeting her for dinner in about half an hour.

"Stabler."

" _Hey Elliot. How has your day been?"_

"The usual. Was stuck in court for the afternoon. How are the kids?"

" _The kids are fine. Dickie's staying over at a friend's house and Eli has been fussy all afternoon."_

Elliot noticed a hint of resignation in Kathy's voice. 5 years ago, he would have been concerned. Now, he had grown to expect that tone whenever he knew he would be home late.

"Look, I'm sorry about tonight. It's just, this case…"

" _I know, El. There's always a case. Look, I really need to talk to you tonight. Can you be home by 8:00, at least? Please?"_

Elliot thought for a moment. That seemed relatively do-able. "Yeah, ok. I'll be home, promise. Is something up?"

This time, there was hesitation on her side.

" _I just wanted to see you, El."_

"Ok then, sweetheart, I will see you then."

" _See you then, Elliot."_

The blonde detective did feel bad for cancelling on her again. But there was still 8:00. He could do 8:00 for his wife. He drove back to the station, determined to get back and finish his work on time.

He walked back it an empty squad room. Brow furrowed, he walked into Cragen's office.

"Where's Olivia?"

"Possible hit on the tip-line, she went out to interview a man who hadn't seen his girlfriend all weekend. The man himself said it was probably nothing, since the girl apparently has the tendency to disappear for days at a time - studious type, apparently gets caught up in her research - but Liv wanted to check it out just in case since the girl matched our vic."

"She went alone?"

"She wasn't going out to apprehend a perp, Elliot, just to have a quick word with a worried man. She did leave me the address, though I would appreciate it if you didn't go rushing out after her."

"Is that an order, sir?"

Cragen raised an eyebrow at the detective. "Court that bad, huh?"

Elliot couldn't help but smile. The captain knew him well. "You know how it is… Still, I don't like Liv - or any cop for that matter - being out in the city on their own"

"You need to trust your partner more, Elliot."

"It's not my partner I don't trust, Captain, it's-"

"Yes, I know, Elliot. It's everyone else. Please just finish up your report on the Harrington case, and I'm sure she will be back soon."

Begrudgingly, Elliot went and finished up the paperwork. It took him the better part of an hour, but he handed in the completed files to the Captain. Munch and Fin returned from their investigation, and briefed him on what they had found. From what Elliot heard, he was fairly confident that this was the break in the case they had been waiting for. The two partners were quite pleased with their day's work, and decided to head off. As Olivia was the lead on the case, they wanted to discuss everything with her before taking any further steps, and they didn't want to stay at the office tonight any later than they already had.

Elliot was beginning to get concerned about his partner. He tried to give her a call, and found his concern heightened tenfold when the call went straight to voicemail. Storming into the captain's office, he demanded the address she went to. Seeing that there was no reasoning with the hotheaded policeman in front of him, Cragen relented.

"Harlem?! You sent her into the middle of Harlem, alone, in the evening?! Are you trying to get her killed!"

Cragen's eyes darkened. He cared about Olivia like a daughter, and did not appreciate Elliot's insinuations. "Watch your tone, Detective."

"How long as she been out there? Hours! I can't believe you haven't tried to contact her!"

"Elliot, she left at quarter to six, about fifteen minutes before you returned from court. She's not even been gone for two hours - with the evening traffic, that's hardly unusual."

"I'm going to find her." Elliot stated. It wasn't a question, and Cragen didn't try to talk him out of it. In truth, he had become somewhat apprehensive the moment Elliot told him that his partner wasn't answering her phone.

* * *

Olivia walked out of the block of flats, dabbing at a bloody nose. The guy really hadn't taken it well when she had insinuated that his girlfriend was part of a gang. It was moot in the end anyway - she had found a picture of the missing girl on a countertop on the way out, and she had a lot more tattoos than her vic did. She - cautiously - went back to let the boyfriend know that they hadn't found his girl, and immediately excused herself. He seemed to deflate the moment she confirmed to him it wasn't her, and even gave the detective a towel and some ice on the way out as apology for his earlier outburst.

She quietly thanked her luck that Elliot hadn't been with her for this one. While she secretly did sometimes like her partner's protectiveness, she knew that on this occasion he would have tried to toss this relatively innocent guy in a cell for the night, or given him a taste of his own. _Senseless_ , she thought. This was just a man that was going through a rough spot right now, who was worried sick about a love one. She just hoped that her eye wasn't going to swell up before the next time she saw her partner - that wasn't an argument she particularly wanted to have.

As if on cue, Elliot's car pulled up in front of the building. Olivia sighed. So much for discretion. Her partner got of his car, and made his way towards her, picking up to a jogging pace the moment he saw the flash of crimson on her face.

"Olivia! What happened to you?" Elliot smothered his partner in a hug before she had the chance to answer. Olivia gently pushed him off, though the resistance immediately painted a 'kicked puppy' look on his face.

"Elliot, relax, I'm fine. The witness objected to my line of questioning a bit, but we've worked it out. This isn't our vic anyway, so I see no reason to harass the man further." She gave her partner a pointed look. Elliot was still looking like he wanted to leap into that building to 'defend her honour', or some other daft chivalrous notion, so she looked him in eyes and repeated her assurances: "Really El, I'm fine."

The male detective wasn't about to let the whole matter rest. Seemingly satisfied that there was no need for a vengeful ass-kicking, he decided to tear into his partner instead.

"How could you go off alone like that, Liv? We're partners, we watch each other's backs. I was worried - I wouldn't go running off like that, into a neighbourhood like this, all on my own!"

Olivia laughed, which in this instance did not help brighten her partner's mood. "Bullshit, Stabler, you would and you have!"

The detective ignored the retaliation, and stubbornly asked, "Why'd you turn your phone off, Olivia?"

The brunette frowned. If her phone was off, her partner's anger was making a bit more sense. "I didn't turn…" She flipped open her phone, and her heart sank when the little screen stayed black. "I'm sorry El, my cell must have ran out of battery."

The cold blue eyes she was staring into stayed angry.

"Did Munch and Fin find anything?" she tried for a change of subject.

"Plenty, I think they've got a good lead. They've gone home for tonight."

Olivia didn't like that they had gone home. It wasn't all that late, and she always somehow felt like she was phoning it in if she didn't pull an all-nighter or two at the start of a case like this.

"Well I suppose we'll reconvene tomorrow then. Could I borrow your phone to text Cragen, let him know I'm heading straight home from here?"

"Yeah, sure." Elliot sighed and handed over the Nokia flip-phone. He snatched it back a bit too aggressively as soon as she was done sending the text, and headed back to his car.

"Goodnight, Olivia." he said flatly, rolling up his window.

 _Drama queen._ Olivia suppressed an eye-roll as she walked back to her own car.

Back in his car, Elliot was still fuming. _How could she stress him out like that? Phone out of battery… If you're scampering off on your own, you've got to at least be reachable, dammit! Now he had spent his whole evening - it was what, 7:57? - his whole evening chasing around- wait. Shit._ The detective glanced at his phone again. The numbers shifted to 7:58, mocking his inability to keep track of them. He had promised - _promised_ \- his wife to be home before 8. Queens was still over half an hour away. He floored it, trying to will the car into teleporting him home.

* * *

"8:36, Elliot." he heard behind him as he locked the door.

"I'm sorry, Kathy."

A lingering shared look, hers pained, his apologetic.

"8:36. You promised. You promised before 8."

Elliot couldn't exactly argue with her. He had already cancelled their plans once, and he had given her his word that he would be home.

"I'm so sorry sweetheart. It's just, I thought my partner was in danger."

Kathy bristled slightly. Generally speaking, she liked Olivia, but now was definitely not the time to bring her up. "And _was_ she in danger?"

"Well, no, not really," Elliot conceded. "But she was out on her own, and she didn't pick up her phone-"

Kathy laughed bitterly. "Elliot, the number of times you have been unreachable when you were out in the field…"

Elliot grimaced. He knew he didn't have a leg to stand on here. He was trying to work out in his head what gesture would put things right this time. Flowers? Chocolates?

Both, he decided. This was definitely a 'both' kind of situation. He would have to let this argument play out. They would go to sleep, then tomorrow he would come home on time to beg her forgiveness. Usually around this point of the argument, Kathy would let him know that dinner was in the fridge, then walk off to watch TV in their bedroom, waiting in silence for him to finish eating and join her. Disconcertingly, she stayed standing in the hallway.

"Elliot, I can't do this anymore."

Elliot's heart jumped into his throat, then dropped straight through the floor. There was an emptiness in her tone which was scaring the crap out of him.

"I love you, but I can't spend my entire life waiting for you," she calmly continued. All traces of anger that were previously in her voice had vanished, replaced by that cold resignation that he had heard earlier on the phone.

"Kathy… What are you saying? No. No! I love you, I don't..."

"Elliot, I love you too, but I know that we haven't been _in love_ for a long time. We spend no time together - you at least have your work-wife to keep you company-"

"I - we never… Kathy, nothing has ever happened between me and Olivia!"

Kathy gave him a sad smile. "I know, El. I know you're an honest man, and I know you would never break our trust like that. I just meant that at least you have someone who you are that close with, who you have that human connection with. Those hours you spend at work, Elliot. I don't have anyone for those hours."

"Kathy, I'm so sorry darling. I know I need to come home more. And I will! I can do this, I _can_ be there."

"If you can, then why haven't you?"

Elliot didn't have a good answer for that.

"Tell me Elliot. Promise me that you will be home on time every day, tell me that I'm the most important thing in your life."

Elliot willed himself to say those words, but he found he couldn't. Kathy was many things to him, but he could not lie to her and say that she was the most important. If she was, he would have already made the time, made that effort, so that they would never have ended up having this conversation.

Kathy didn't cry. Her world wasn't falling apart. That sad little smile remained on her face. This was something she had known was coming for a long time, and she thought it was time for them both to free themselves, before they ended up too old to do anything about it, together and miserable that they had spent their lives tied to each other on an obligation.

"But Kathy, the kids…" Elliot protested, weakly. His head was reeling, and his face felt numb. This couldn't be happening, not again, not for real.

"The kids will be fine, Elliot. Lizzie and and Dickie are going off to university in a year's time. They are old enough to understand this. And Eli is young enough that it will just be the norm for him. Enough studies have been done by now El - kids are better off growing up in a divorced home than an unhappy one."

 _Divorced…_ The word echoed in Elliot's mind. They'd had their trial separation before Eli was born, but this time there was a sense of finality in Kathy's tone. There was no coming back this time, no third shot at a happy marriage…

Kathy picked up a manilla envelope from a table, and handed it to Elliot. He looked down to see himself holding that evil-looking file, but he couldn't feel it. He seemed to have lost all sensation to his extremities. He noticed that he was sitting down in a chair, though he certainly couldn't remember how he had ended up there.

"We'll be better off, Elliot."

"But I love you."

She gently stroked his cheek, and planted a soft kiss on his lips. _A farewell kiss,_ he understood.

"I love you too. But we don't make each other happier. I genuinely wish you all the best in finding someone who you will fulfil you, and I can only hope you can wish me the same."

Elliot only realised he was crying when his next words came out choked up. "Of course I do. Kathy, I'm sorry, for everything."

"Me too, El."

 **A/N: On a writing binge right now so the chapters are coming pretty quickly, I'm trying to see how long I can keep up this pace. This is the first time I have written a story this long, so I am super motivated to see the project through from start to finish. Some bigger revelations about what our detectives have just walked into will be coming next chapter, so I really hope you guys keep reading! Reviews are strongly encouraged, I would love to hear your thoughts ^_^**


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